


what is love?

by thesapphiresoul



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Just gals being pals, Pillow Talk, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 19:32:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18453170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesapphiresoul/pseuds/thesapphiresoul
Summary: Small spoilers up to episode 57!An alternative timeline where Beau and Jester's conversation before bed in episode 57 was revisited.





	what is love?

**Author's Note:**

> Bidet, fellow critters!! This is my first attempt at writing a fic so please be kind... Feel free to comment your thoughts or message me @thesapphiresoul on tumblr!

“Hey, Beau. Are you still awake?” Beau heard Jester whisper in the dark.

It was their second night in Rosanna. Last night had been the most rest Beau had gotten in what felt like weeks, and it was amazing. She hadn’t realized just how tired the trip through the tunnels and their escapades in Asarius had left her until she finally had a chance to slow down. And even then, being one of the two humans in the city meant keeping her guard up. The pendants from the Bright Queen helped though.

Needless to say, Beau was looking forward to another restful night’s sleep before they headed out in the morning. So much so that she almost ignored Jester’s question. Almost.

“Yeah. What’s up?” Beau sighed and rolled over toward the sound of Jester’s voice.

“Oh! Uhh, it’s not really that important.” Jester said.

“It’s obviously important enough for you to bring it up in the middle of the night.”

Beau waited a moment for Jester’s response. When nothing came she said, “Jes, what is it?”

Beau heard a heavy sigh, and then, “Okay, so do you remember last night? When we were talking about Nott and Yeza, and I said that their relationship was a lot different then the stories we read, and then you yelled about porn, and I said—”

“Yeah, I remember.” Beau interrupted. She remembered it very well. To be honest, Beau should not have been surprised. Last night she had been taken aback, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.

“Okay, um,” Jester started, “I know I said that I know how romance works for real, and that I didn’t learn everything from those, uh, books, but I might have been lying.”

Beau gave a hum of acknowledgement, sounding somewhere in between _What! I had no idea!_ and _Yeah, I fucking know_.

When Jester didn’t continue, Beau asked, “And you’re bringing this up now because?”

Jester let out a small huff. “What is it like? Love and romance? How does it actually work?

Then it was Beau’s turn to hesitate. She wasn’t sure how to respond. Why was Jester asking Beau of all people? Sure she knew the basics, the stuff outside of steamy romance novels, but she wasn’t by any means an expert.

“Beau?” Jester asked after a moment.

“Yeah, uhhh,” Beau said. “Why don’t you ask Nott and Yeza? I mean, they’re married, so they did something right. They would know better.”

“Yeah, but you already know about the whole book... thing. It’s easier just to ask you.

“Plus!” Jester added, “You seem like you know what you’re doing. At least Keg seemed to think so—”

“Okay!” Beau said, louder than intended. It’s not that she was ashamed of what happened with Keg that night, it just felt weird talking about it with Jester. Quietly, she continued, “I’ll tell you what I can, alright? But it’s weird like this, just whispering into the dark. Do we have a candle or something?”

Beau sat up in bed to begin looking when she heard, “Ooo! I can cast Thaumaturgy!”

Beau’s eyes widened in fear. But instead of the loud crash she had come to expect, she saw a dim light appear in Jester’s hand, illuminating her bright smile.

“That’ll do,” Beau said. “Okay, um—ugh this is weird—where do I start?”

“The beginning maybe.”

Beau rolled her eyes. “Yeah yeah, okay. So I guess in a lot of stories it’s always love at first sight. Like they make eye contact and boom! They’re instantly in love. It’s not like that though. I mean, it is sometimes, I guess, but it usually just... happens. You could be friends with somebody for months or years, then one day you just go, ‘oh’.” Beau tried to ignore the heat slowly building in her cheeks. She continued, “It can still happen in other ways, like courting or arranged marriage where they learn to love over time. But the good stuff, the _real_ stuff? That shit happens whether you like it or not.”

“But what if the other person doesn’t like you back?” Jester said with a small pout.

“Well, first of all, it fucking sucks, but you get over it, I guess. Let your heart do it’s thing, and just try to ignore it.” Beau did was she hoped was a nonchalant shrug and avoided Jester's gaze.

“Oh. Well what if they do like you back?”

“Then hopefully one of you is brave enough to bring it up first, and if all goes well, you get together,” Beau said. “The actual relationship part is where the stories get it wrong most. Sometimes the relationship starts off awkward. Sometimes the two of you fight. It isn’t heart eyes and butterflies all day everyday. Sometimes you’re just comfortable. Content. Safe.”

Beau was all too aware of the blush on her face and ears. Where did all this lovey dovey crap come from anyway? Since when had she been such a romantic?

“Oh!” Jester said, much more chipper this time. “That sounds really nice, Beau. Nott and Yeza seem a lot like that.”

“Yeah, they have it good. Even if it’s a little complicated right now.”

With a soft smile, Jester said, “I’d like that one day.”

Beau tried to ignore Jester’s distracting dimples that appeared when she smiled. She tried to ignore the small crinkles that formed at the corners of Jester’s eyes. Ignore the adorable splash of freckles across the bridge of Jester’s nose and cheeks. Ignore how her heart fluttered at how Jester looked in the soft light, at their close proximity. “Yeah. I’d like that too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
